Super cookies and Zombie Cookies

Super Cookies

The term 'Super Cookie' (or sometimes Supercookie) is usually applied to tracking technologies that are not regular HTTP cookies and are stored in a different way on a user’s machine.

This makes them harder to find and get rid of - because they can't be removed using the regular privacy controls found in most browsers.

Adobe Flash applications sometimes use local file storage to optimise performance - and these files, known as Local Storage Objects, can also be used for tracking purposes, so they are sometimes labelled as 'supercookies'.

Zombie Cookies

So called zombie cookies, are technologies that are used to re-spawn regular http cookies after they have been deleted by users.

The practice of using zombie cookies is clearly intended to circumvent users’ attempts at controlling their privacy, and therefore is widely frowned upon. In many circumstances the use of zombie cookies would be a breach of privacy laws and regulations. However their use is rare.